Why Is It So Expensive to Fly into OKC?

[kswright29]

Why does it cost so much more to fly into/out of OKC as opposed to Tulsa or Wichita? I'm looking at booking the 'ol family vacation and I can save about $375 on four tickets flying in/out of Tulsa. Ended up having to do the same thing last year.

I had some friends fly in over the 4th and they flew into Tulsa as well because it was so much cheaper.

Just curious if anyone knew any reasons for the price differences.

[kevinpate]

Just curious, is that $375 in overall savings, or only on face value of tickets?

If on tickets only, what values are assigned to:
- gas for the roundtrip to Tulsa
- wear/tear on car for the roundtrip
- parking/storage of the vehicle while gone on trip
- value of your time in making the roundtrip (depending on where you live in relation to WRWA, that may not be a biggie, but it probably exists at some level)

[TaoMaas]

Wow, you're right. I just did a quick price check for a flight I regularly book and it was $50 cheaper to fly in and out of Tulsa.

[MikeOKC]

Just curious, is that $375 in overall savings, or only on face value of tickets?

If on tickets only, what values are assigned to:
- gas for the roundtrip to Tulsa
- wear/tear on car for the roundtrip
- parking/storage of the vehicle while gone on trip
- value of your time in making the roundtrip (depending on where you live in relation to WRWA, that may not be a biggie, but it probably exists at some level)

That is true, Kevin. However, it doesn't answer the question as to why it's more expensive to fly into OKC in the first place. I've been asked that before and I have no idea.

[okcpulse]

Ask the airlines. They would be the best source for information on this.

[Caboose]

Supply and demand?

[Jesseda]

my sister has flown my little niece in two times to tulsa because of the savings. I dont mind driving to tulsa to get her. A lot of people drive to dallas airport because of the savings as well

[Luke]

My family flew out of Wichita last year for a summer vacation. We saved so much that we stayed at a hotel in Wichita the night before and it was still much cheaper. AND it was a non-stop flight, which OKC didn't offer.

[Tex]

A few months ago I was looking for a plane ticket to Orange County on American Airlines. The roundtrip fare from DFW was more expensive than the roundtrip fare from OKC, even though I would connect through DFW if I flew out of OKC. Very strange. I ended up flying on Southwest.

[venture]

OKC doesn't have a lot when it comes to LCCs or Low Cost Carriers that impact pricing. Now we do have Frontier, which helps with pricing in some markets - and I really love their product. Southwest, regardless of what you want to believe, they are not a low fare carrier and haven't been for awhile. In a lot of cases they charge the highest fares...though they are still low in the same day bucket.

It also comes down to airport costs, where you are going, and overall demand in the market. Most of OKC flights are operated by high cost RJs, they need to cover those costs. Also I would guess their gate, ramp, and rental rates aren't the cheapest from our nice new terminal. Also travel through the airport has sort of leveled off and isn't growing that much anymore. We have a nice balance now it seems.

As far as Wichita goes...you have AirTran and Allegiant there that really bring the low fares. Tulsa not sure the reason there...but the costs to operate there may be cheaper or there is some influence from the operators up in Branson or Fayetteville.

[venture]

A few months ago I was looking for a plane ticket to Orange County on American Airlines. The roundtrip fare from DFW was more expensive than the roundtrip fare from OKC, even though I would connect through DFW if I flew out of OKC. Very strange. I ended up flying on Southwest.

Not really strange. Airlines always can get a premium on a nonstop flight. Those passengers (aka O&D or Origin and Destination pax) are gravy for airlines and really help pay the bills. When you get into connecting pax, there is a lot of shuffling of funds to cover costs, but when you think of that OKC-DFW leg...there may be other passengers flying international or in first class paying much much more to where they are covering the costs of that flight and you are just filling a seat.

[Insider]

I recently flew to Aruba and it was almost $200 per ticket cheaper to fly out of Tulsa. I also regularly fly to Atlanta and tickets can be as low as $175 round trip out of Wichita (Airtran) vs $400 round trip out of OKC (Delta). When booking travel, I ALWAYS check Wichita, Dallas, Tulsa and Lawton because they are almost always cheaper than OKC.

[Lord Helmet]

Supply and demand?

I would imagine it's this.

I fly my daughter here all the time from GA, and usually fly her to Wichita or Dallas to save $$$, depending on how the price of gas is looking.

[Oil Capital]

Not so many years ago, it was the exact opposite with regard to Wichita. Primarily, I suppose, because OKC had Southwest and Wichita did not.

[metro]

I think it just depends where you are flying to, when you are flying, and how much in advance you book. I often find OKC cheaper to fly in/out than Dallas or Wichita.

AND.... Just maybe if all you who fly out of Tulsa, Wichita, DFW and other places as well as all those who aren't reading OKCTalk would fly out of OKC. Our PAX numbers would support more flights, direct flights, and cheaper prices.

[venture]

Not so many years ago, it was the exact opposite with regard to Wichita. Primarily, I suppose, because OKC had Southwest and Wichita did not.

That was probably it, but more so Wichita didn't have AirTran yet. The airport shelled out a nice chunk of change to subsidize AirTran service there and have really seen it pay off. Also looking at our situation we have Southwest who use to have the industry's lowest costs...and now they are far from that. Unions actually wanted to get paid closer to the industry average and their fuel hedging plan has actually cost them a bit of money earlier this year (it was the only thing keeping the company profitable as the airline was losing money).

[Steve]

Now, if you bought a Southwest ticket yesterday....

[phl1331]

Flying OKC to ATL on weekdays is usually $900-$1300...or take the American connection through DFW for 250. Leave to ATL on Sunday instead and the ticket is $650. Definitely one of the most expensive places to fly out of ATL.

[russellc]

I just went to expedia and entered two random days in August for departure and return flights, and almost every destination I put in, Tulsa was $60 cheaper than OKC, and Dallas was cheaper than that.